Patti is a veteran blogger who writes observational entries about her life that lead some to believe she’s making stuff up. She assures us she isn’t. She describes herself as Erma Bombeck meets Pioneer Woman meets Lucille Ball meets Calamity Jane.

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Substance Over Style? Style Over Substance?

We first noticed the timer was persnickety, some days working while other days, not so much. Then, we noticed the machine itself would be standing in water after the brew cycle. I like a jolt with my coffee, but come on, that’s just a bad joke waiting to write itself.

I’m not a Boy Scout, but I should be because I’m always prepared for these unexpected coffee catastrophe moments; I have two back-up machines just waiting for their time to shine.

HEY! I can see you rolling your eyes!

When you lurv coffee as much as we do, you have a back-up, or two. The second string isn’t as nice as the first, but they’ll do until a new machine can be brought in.

Here’s the twist: Husband has decided postmortem to cut down on his coffee consumption, therefore my fun in shopping for and buying a shiny, complicated, LARGE machine is no longer prudent.

COFFEE FUN KILLER!

Oh, Mr. Coffee, it’s just gonna be you and me from here on out.

Mr. Coffee isn’t as exciting as Cuisinart, but he gets the job done with expert precision. And he’s quick about it. Cuisinart takes his time, making something relatively simple, a steaming hot cup of joe, complicated. Even with the “stop and pour” option I get annoyed.

Hurry up already!

Mr. Coffee is also a smaller dude, taking less of my precious counter space. Cuisinart is a known counter hog. Look how BIG I am! I make 14 CUPS! Beat THAT! Yes, we see you there, with your large capacity carafe, making the counters look smaller.

Still, with all his flaws, I love my Cuisinart. He can have my coffee ready when I wake-up. He’s always ready for company. He’s shiny and sleek and ohso handsome. Just looking at him makes me happy.

He’s also broke. And in the trash. For the second time in a short period. He just didn’t have the staying power of good old Mr. Coffee.

So what to do? Do I go ahead with my plans for another good-looking, fast-talking yet slow dripping, uptown model? Or do I stick with the trusty Mr. Coffee that has been in the cabinet for years, pinch-hitting when needed?

Substance over style? Style over substance?

WHY MUST I CHOOSE?!

Seriously, why? Coffee manufactures across the land, answer me!

I would take a beast over a beauty if it gave me everything I wanted. Well, if it didn’t cost more than a trip to Belize and wasn’t bigger than my desk. I wouldn’t have any counter space if I did that.

But how about a good quality machine that doesn’t break down every year, that isn’t a behemoth, and that makes a quick, HOT, tasty cup of coffee? How about that?

I’ll keep looking, albeit with less urgency now that Husband has decided to cut down. Mr. Coffee is handling the load, for the moment. I can count on him to do what’s needed until the new guy shows up.